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Morning Musume (モーニング娘。) is a Japanese pop girl group produced by Tsunku, managed by Up-Front Promotion, and part of Hello! Project as its flagship group. They are also known as "Momusu" (モー娘。) for short, and have adopted the name "Jou An Sao Nu Jou" (pinyin: Zǎo Ān Shào Nǚ Zǔ; traditional Chinese: 早安少女組。) for the Chinese market. Formed in 1997 on the talent show ASAYAN, Morning Musume quickly became, and still remains, one of Japan's top all-girl groups with a number of hit records and albums. They have sold over 17,746,446 copies in Japan alone. They were masterminded and managed by their producer Tsunku who is responsible for the composition of the majority of their songs and lyrics, production of their CD-sleeve covers, designing of their costumes and make-up and their live shows.

The group has been known for its ever-changing line-ups, with auditions and graduations creating different styles and dynamics to their music and performances. Starting with 2014, Morning Musume's name reflects the present year as a way to help audiences identify members over the group's twenty-year history. Currently, the group is identified as Morning Musume '18 (pronounced One-Eight).

Thirteenth Generation (2016)

Fourteenth Generation (2017)

History

1997–1999

Morning Musume's origins began with Sharam Q's auditions to find a female vocalist, broadcasted on ASAYAN. Although the winner was Heike Michiyo, band member Tsunku called back five of the finalists - Nakazawa Yuko, Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, and Fukuda Asuka - and proposed to them a challenge. If the five could sell 50,000 copies of their debut single, "Ai no Tane", in five days, they will be given a record deal, and their group is named Morning Musume. The challenge was completed, and the group began preparing for their major debut, starting with the single "Morning Coffee" in early 1998.

Not long after, Tsunku announced that three new members would be added to the group, and emerging from the auditions were Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari, and Ichii Sayaka, known as the group's second generation. The group's debut album, First Time, was released, and was followed up by "Daite HOLD ON ME!", which became Morning Musume's first single to hit #1 on the Oricon charts.

1999 began with Morning Musume's first graduation, that of Fukuda Asuka, who decided to return to her studies. Now with only seven members, the group released two more singles, "Manatsu no Kousen" and "Furusato", which was followed by their second album, Second Morning. However, these releases performed poorly sales-wise, and so it was time to add in new members. Although the audition was expected to find two more members, only the young Goto Maki was chosen, and as an eight-piece group again, Morning Musume released their seventh single, "LOVE Machine". The single went on to sell over one million copies, becoming the group's best-selling single to date. Goto quickly became a fan favorite as well as a prominent face within the group.

2000–2002

The new millenium began with Ishiguro Aya's departure from the group, where she would pursue a career in fashion design. Although at seven members again, "Koi no Dance Site" was still a superb follow-up to "LOVE Machine", being the only other single to sell over one million copies. The follow-up album, 3rd -LOVE Paradise-, is also their best-selling original album to date. In the spring, four new members were added - Ishikawa Rika, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Tsuji Nozomi, and Kago Ai - known as the fourth generation. A month after the release of their CD debut, "Happy Summer Wedding", Ichii Sayaka graduated from the group, to pursue her own career in music.

2002–2004

The group's first single for the year, "Souda! We're ALIVE", became their third consecutive #1 single on the Oricon charts. That streak was broken by "Do it! Now", which only reached #3. Not surprisingly, it was the last single for Goto Maki, who graduated from the group in September to continue her solo career. However, the single "Koko ni Iruzee!" managed to reach #1. Near the end of the year, it was announced that Fujimoto Miki, a fellow solo artist in Hello! Project, would be added to Morning Musume's sixth generation. The Morning Musume LOVE Audition 2002 decided three more members to join Fujimoto, and they were Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi, and Tanaka Reina.

Although the sixth generation was announced at the beginning of 2003, they did not make their proper debut until Yasuda Kei's graduation in May. The single "Morning Musume no Hyokkori Hyoutanjima" was the group's first cover. After the group's fifth album, No.5, and the single "AS FOR ONE DAY", which reached #1 on the Oricon charts, Yasuda graduated from Morning Musume. This marked the time where Morning Musume had the most number of members, at sixteen before Yasuda's departure. Now at fifteen members, the sixth generation made their CD debut with the single "Shabondama". With so many members, Morning Musume had formed two "splinter" groups, known as Morning Musume Otomegumi and Morning Musume Sakuragumi, to promote activities separately and in smaller numbers. The year-end single "Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~" also coincided with the formation of Hello! Project's futsal team, Gatas Brilhantes H.P..

In 2004, after the release of the single "Ai Araba IT'S ALL RIGHT", Abe Natsumi graduated from Morning Musume to continue her solo career.

2005–2009

2005 opened with a new single, "THE Manpower!!!", and the graduation of Iida Kaori, which took place on January 30, 2005, at the conclusion of Hello! Project's winter tour. Yaguchi Mari became leader and Yoshizawa Hitomi became sub-leader. In February, the Morning Musume Lucky 7 Audition took place, where Tsunku described his search for an "ace" member that would represent the seventh generation. Surprisingly, no new members turned up, but after the follow-up Morning Musume Audition 2005, Kusumi Koharu was selected, and she was inducted into the group in May. Incidentally in April, Yaguchi was caught in a scandal, and in response, she left the group without a proper graduation, though the single "Osaka Koi no Uta" was still released even after this announcement. Yoshizawa became leader and Fujimoto Miki became sub-leader. Ishikawa Rika graduated from the group at the conclusion of their 2005 spring tour, and would continue on as the leader of v-u-den. Now with a ten-member line-up that included Kusumi, Morning Musume released their twenty-seventh single, "Iroppoi Jirettai".

In 2006, Morning Musume released their seventh original album, Rainbow 7, and followed up with their twenty-ninth single, "SEXY BOY ~Soyokaze ni Yorisotte~". During their spring tour, it was announced that Konno Asami and Ogawa Makoto would graduate from the group, both members to further pursue their studies. Konno graduated from Hello! Project on July 23, at the conclusion of Hello! Project's summer tour. During the month of August, the remaining Morning Musume members starred with v-u-den, Abe Natsumi, Tsuji Nozomi, Matsuura Aya, and Takarazuka Revue in Ribbon no Kishi The Musical, an adaptation of Tezuka Osamu's manga. Ogawa graduated at the end of its run on August 27, and took an indefinite hiatus from Hello! Project appearances. With only eight members in the line-up, the Morning Musume Happy 8ki Audition commenced, running from August to December. In that time, Morning Musume's thirty-first single, "Aruiteru", reached #1 on the Oricon charts, a title unachieved ever since "AS FOR ONE DAY" in 2003. At the end of the year, Mitsui Aika was added into the group, and at the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen, Morning Musume performed a medley with GAM.

2007 marked Morning Musume's tenth anniversary, and a special group was formed, named Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai, to begin promotional activities throughout the year. Yoshizawa Hitomi's graduation was also announced. As spring season came about, Mitsui's CD debut was on the single "Egao YES Nude", and the group released their eighth original album, SEXY 8 BEAT. In March, Tsunku made a surprise announcement on Hello! Morning - two members from China, Junjun and Linlin, would be joining the eighth generation as "exchange students." Currently, those two are the only non-Japanese members to have been part of the group. After the release of the single "Kanashimi Twilight", Yoshizawa graduated on May 6, and Fujimoto Miki and Takahashi Ai took the positions of leader and sub-leader. However, no less than a month later, Fujimoto was caught in scandal - a scene quite parallel to Yaguchi Mari's departure two years back - and she left the group, in addition to taking a temporary hiatus from Hello! Project appearances following her spring concert tour with GAM. Takahashi and Niigaki Risa became leader and sub-leader, now fronting a line-up of nine, beginning with the single "Onna ni Sachi Are". In the autumn season, Morning Musume released their biggest singles compilation to date, a double album featuring all thirty-four singles, with the album covers being recreations of the covers for "Morning Coffee", their debut single, and "LOVE Machine", their best-selling single. The year was concluded with the release of the single "Mikan" and the appearance at the 58th Kouhaku Uta Gassen. Morning Musume performed a special medley with Berryz Kobo and °C-ute under the name "Hello Pro Wonderful All Stars". However, it was their last appearance on the show to date, thus breaking their consecutive ten-year streak.

Morning Musume released their first 2008 single, "Resonant Blue", and continued their 10th anniversary promotions with their spring concert tour, which had a set list containing all their singles to date. In addition to performing in Japan, the group had special stopovers in Shanghai, China and Seoul, South Korea, to further promote the expansion into Asia. For the summer season, Morning Musume collaborated with Takarazuka Revue again to perform Cinderella The Musical, an adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein's musical with lyrics translated into Japanese. During the autumn season, the group began a series of tributes to legendary songwriter Aku Yuu. Takahashi and Niigaki portrayed Pink Lady in a special titled Hitmaker Aku Yuu Monogatari. The group's thirty-seventh single, "Pepper Keibu", was a cover of the famous Pink Lady song. To top it off, a tribute album titled COVER YOU was released, featuring covers of famous Aku Yuu-penned hits. 2008 marked the first year where there were no changes in Morning Musume's line-up.

2009 was a year teeming with activity. The group released their thirty-eighth single, "Naichau Kamo", and their ninth original album, Platinum 9 DISC. The album was followed up with the single "Shouganai Yume Oibito", which reached #1 on the Oricon charts. Its coupling track, "3, 2, 1 BREAKIN' OUT!", was the theme song for Anime Expo 2009 in Los Angeles, California, which Morning Musume attended as Guests of Honor and which marked their first performance in North America (not counting their fan club visits in Hawaii). The group's fortieth single, "Nanchatte Renai", reached #2 only to Hamasaki Ayumi's "Sunrise / Sunset ~LOVE is ALL~", but was an achievement in sales; selling over 70,000 copies, a feat unachieved since 2005. However, the year concluded with Kusumi Koharu's graduation from Hello! Project, which took place on December 6. "Kimagure Princess" was the last single to feature Morning Musume's most stable line-up.

2010–2014

2010 progressed almost like the year before. The eight-member Morning Musume released their forty-second single, "Onna ga Medatte Naze Ikenai", followed by their tenth original album, 10 MY ME, only a month later. In the spring, Morning Musume attended the Japan Expo 2010 in Paris, France, marking their first performance in Europe. The theme song for the event was "Tomo", the coupling track to their forty-third single "Seishun Collection", which in turn was the theme song for Morning Musume's musical during June, titled Fashionable. However, a surprising twist was made during the summer. Kamei Eri, Junjun, and Linlin would be graduating from Hello! Project, Kamei to tend to her atopic dermatitis and Junjun and Linlin to pursue careers in China. In turn, auditions commenced for the group's ninth generation, who would make their debut at the start of the new year. After another single, "Onna to Otoko no Lullaby Game", and another album, Fantasy! Juuichi, the triple graduation took place on December 15.

The tenth generation members were introduced on September 29th. Iikubo HarunaIshida AyumiSato Masaki & Kudo Haruka were introduced the day before then leader Takahashi Ai graduated and appeared again in the final and gave their graduation messages to Ai and also sang with the existing members. Their addition makes the group stand at 12 members, the largest the group has been since 2005. Once Takahashi graduated, she passed leadership of both Morning Musume and Hello! Project to Niigaki Risa her fellow 5th generation member. This now makes Risa the longest serving member of the group and the 1st member to go from youngest in the group at entering to becoming leader. The Tenth generation made their CD debut with the single "Pyocopyoco Ultra", followed by "Renai Hunter", Risa's last single.

On January 3, 2012, at the beginning of the Hello! Project 2012 Winter concert tours, Risa announced her graduation from Morning Musume and Hello! Project, to take place at the end of the 2012 Morning Musume Spring concert tour. Her leadership of Morning Musume will be passed on to Michishige Sayumi after she graduates. Risa stated that she originally planned to graduate at the same time as Takahashi Ai, but decided to stay for a while longer after the tenth generation members were introduced. It was suddenly announced on May 4, 2012 that Mitsui Aika would graduate from Morning Musume, but not Hello! Project, alongside Niigaki Risa at the end of the 2012 Morning Musume Spring concert tour due to worries over possible repeat injury to her ankle.

on July 4th, Morning Musume released their 50th single "One Two Three", the first single released under the leadership of Michishige Sayumi. It became the highest selling single since 2003, selling over 100,000 copies.

On September 14th, Morning Musume held a 15th anniversary event which was a special rehearsal of their upcoming concert tour open to the fans. The eleventh generation was announced at the event, and Oda Sakura, was introduced. Morning Musume released their 51st single "Wakuteka Take a chance" on October 10th.

On January 19th, 2014, Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina have been in Morning Musume for 10 years.

On January 23rd, Morning Musume released their 52nd single Help me!!", the debut single for eleventh generation Oda Sakura. The single reached #1 on the Oricon weekly charts.

On May 21, 2013 Tanaka Reina graduated from Morning Musume and Hello! Project, with her focus shifting to the new band Lovendor. After Reina's graduation 9th generation member Fukumura Mizuki and 10th generation member Iikubo Haruna became joint sub-leaders.

On September 12, Their 54th single "Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke / Ai no Gundan" ranked #1 on the first week of sales. It is the highest selling Hello! Project single of 2013. And it became Morning Musume's highest selling single since "Koko ni Iruzee!".

On January 1st, 2014, Morning Musume changed their to name to Morning Musume '14 (One Four).

On January 21, Tsunku announced at the au Presentation Spring 2014 that Morning Musume '14 would be part of a commercial along with comedians Morisanchuu, forming a new unit called Morimusu.

On April 29, during the Morning Musume '14 Concert Tour Spring ~Evolution~ concert held in Yamaguchi, Michishige Sayumi announced her graduation. She will be graduating at their Fall 2014 concert tour.

2015–present

The now thirteen-member group starts the year off as Morning Musume '15. This is the first lineup in which there are four full generations in the group at the same time. On February 9, it was announced that Morning Musume '15 would be releasing a song for the upcoming Pretty Cure movie, in which Iikubo Haruna, Ishida Ayumi, and Oda Sakura would be providing their voices to 3 spirits whose artwork they designed themselves. That same month it was announced that Iikubo Haruna would be the official mentor to the 12th generation, bringing back the mentor system.

It was later revealed on May 31, 2016 that no winners had been found in the 13th generation audition. It was announced that the audition would run again and applications would be accepted from June 15th to August 7th. Several months later it was yet again announced that no winners had been found from the general public applications, and that the 13th generation members would be chosen from among the Hello Pro Kenshuusei.

On June 26, 2017 it was revealed that Country Girls member Morito Chisaki would become a new member of Morning Musume, through a special edition of the Hello! Project webshow "Hello Station". Though her position within a generation was not directly stated during the video announcement, sub-leader Iikubo Haruna later posted on her blog about the addition referring to Chisaki as the 14th generation (14期). The reveal followed the news that three Country Girls members would transfer their main activities to other groups, two others would focus on school and the Country Girls group itself would be relegated to only being active during school holidays.

On September 14, Morning Musume hold a event in celebration of the 20th Group Anniversary at Shinkiba STUDIO COAST, fans could mix and match members and choose songs to be performed.

2008

16 - 36th Single - "Resonant Blue". Takahashi Ai, Tanaka Reina and Junjun one day visit to Taiwan for promoting "Resonant Blue" (released in Taiwan on the same day as Japan) and the 2008 Taiwan concert (one press conference and apperances in three TV shows and one radio show)

14 - Morning Musume Jc & Jk Female Actress Audition Announced.Up-Front and BS-TBS have agreed to hold auditions in five cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo) to find a co-star for a stage play this June with Morning Musume.

23 - Announced that all the members of Morning Musume, and °C-ute's Nakajima Saki will have a role in the play FASHIONABLE. At the day 11 of June starts until day 27 of June.

APRIL

1 - The title for Morning Musume’s 43rd single has been revealed: "Seishun Collection" the a-side will be used as the theme for the stage play titled FASHIONABLE. The release date is set for 6/9.

1 - Morning Musume had been chosen as image girls for a national campaigning in China pro the entrance of dog-guide in all the establishments.

5 - Morning Musume have just revealed that they will attend the France Japan Expo in July 2. The c/w to their 43rd single, "Seishun Collection" titled "Tomo" will be the theme song for the expo in 2010.

15 - A Morning Musume event were the very first event to be broadcasted by TBS TV in 3D.

28 - Morning Musume new unit announced Muten Musume. According to Tsunku the unit was made to spread the sushi culture around the world. The unit consists of Morning Musume members using the following characters and names for promotion of a sushi chain in Kansai.

15 - Kamei Eri, Junjun and Linlin graduate at Yokohama Arena. The concert is broadcast live in 3D.

17 - Morning Musume are one of the 'Supervisors' at J-MELO (NHK's website) to promote j-music worldwide. the girls have videos to invite and encourage people around the world to record yourself singing in Japanese and send these videos to the site. Someone can be selected and enter the J-MELO as Singer

6 - Morning Musume and °C-ute take part on this year's NHK J-Melo Spring Fest 2012.

10 - Morning Musume take part, as special guest, in Dream Morning Musume’s Nippon Budokan Show. Former members Ishiguro Aya, Goto Maki, and Tsuji Nozomi are also guests, bringing the total number of active and former members participating in this concert to a record 24.

24 - Morning Musume members, along others UP-Front "talentos", as well former members, passed out food in Iwate on March 24th to those affected by last year’s devastating earthquake.The event was part of the agency’s Tohoku Earthquake Disaster Relief Project, 'Ganbarou Nippon Ai wa Katsu'. The agency passed out 1,200 meals of butadon and pork miso soup by the end of the event. The current members performed "Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru" in front of a crowd of 1,500 people.

APRIL

2 - The Bags costumized by Morning Musume members last month, goes to the auction, this action is part of the 6th charity event called ROOTOTE the campaign (TOTE AS CANVAS) has focused its profits to children who were victims of the earthquake that hit Japan last year.

5 - Tsunku announces a new rock unit, centered around Tanaka Reina, one new girl will be co-singer with her and will be chosen by auditions, as well a guitarist.

6 - A Musical play called Stacey's Shoujo Saisatsu Kageki starts. All Morning Musume members are part of the cast,except the current leader, Michishige Sayumi, at the play Tanaka Reina, Sayashi Riho and Kudo Haruka have got the main characters.

15 t0 28 - 9th and 10th along the S/mileage's 2nd generation hold a FC event called Gachi☆Kira, divided in mixed groups, and a last concert with all members at June 1st at Zepp Tokyo.

23 - After a full week of peaking at the top of the Oricon chart and stabilizing at a #1 position through the past 7 days, Morning Musume have now achieved their 2nd consecutive #1 weekly on the charts after "Help me!!" with their 53rd single titled "Brainstorming / Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Iranai", which is the first time it has occurred since 2001.

25 - Two thousand fans went to a special, and surprise, mini-live held at Shibuya, named Morning Musume x ekiato in celebration of the second group #1 this year, and the anniversary of this famous train station in Japan called Tokyuu Toyoko Line.

14 - Morning Musume '14 announced that they would be holding an audition for a music video director for one of their future songs. To enter the audition, one must submit a three minute video. The audition was open to any nationality. Both amateurs and professionals were welcome to apply.

26 - Michishige Sayumi graduated, appointing Fukumura Mizuki as the leader of Morning Musume and both Iikubo Haruna and Ikuta Erina were appointed sub-leaders of Morning Musume.

DECEMBER

28 - It was announced that Morning Musume's 12th generation members would start their own radio show on FM-FUJI titled Morning Musume. ’15 12ki Nikki and would start airing on January 4, 2015.

2015

9 - It was announced that Morning Musume '15 would be releasing a song for the upcoming Pretty Cure movie, in which Iikubo Haruna, Ishida Ayumi, and Oda Sakura would be providing their voices to 3 spirits whose artwork they designed themselves.

14 - It was announced that Iikubo Haruna would be the official mentor to the 12th generation, bringing back the mentor system.

18 - TRIANGLE (TRIANGLE -トライアングル-) is an Engeki Joshibu science-fiction musical based on the manga α -Alpha- by Kuramochi Fusako, starring Morning Musume'15, Sudo Maasa and Hello Pro Kenshuusei. The musical was divided into two versions, α and β. It took place from June 18 through June 28, 2015 at Sunshine Theater

31 - Suzuki Kanon graduated from Morning Musume at the end of the Morning Musume '16 Spring Concert Tour Haru ~EMOTION IN MOTION~. Staff announced that there are no results from the Morning Musume '16 "Shinseki" Audition and auditions are to be re-held.

JUNE

11 - Zoku 11nin Iru! Higashi no Chihei, Nishi no Towa (続・11人いる！東の地平・西の永遠; Continued, They Were Eleven! Horizon of the East, Eternity of the West) is an Engeki Joshibu science-fiction musical starring Morning Musume '16 and select members of Tsubaki Factory and Hello Pro Kenshuusei. The play was presented in different venues and dates in Tokyo and Kyoto.

29 - Morning Musume '16 performed at TV Tokyo Music Festival

13th Generation Members

JULY

2 - Morning Musume '16 performed at NTV's THE MUSIC DAY Natsu no Hajimari

12 - During the Morning Musume '16 Concert Tour Aki ~MY VISION~ finale at Nippon Budokan, the winners of the Morning Musume '16 Shinseiki Audition and 13th generation members were announced to be Kaga Kaede and Yokoyama Reina.

14 - Morning Musume '16 performed an idol shuffle medley with other groups (including °C-ute) during the second night of Fuji TV's 2016 FNS Kayousai.

31 - Morning Musume '16 performed on TV for the first time as the Morning Musume '17 line-up during the CDTV Special! Toshikoshi Premier Live 2016→2017. The performance was pre-recorded on December 30, which Sato Masaki was unable to participate due to her lower back injury.

2017

JANUARY

1 - Morning Musume '16 changed their name to Morning Musume '17.

12 - It was announced that Morning Musume '17 would collaborate with Marukome by singing a remake of "Morning Coffee" titled "Morning Misoshiru" to promote the company's new miso soup product of the same name.

25 - Morning Musume '17 formed a collaborative unit with HKT48 member Sashihara Rino, named Sashining Musume, for the song "Get you!" which was released in Type-A edition of AKB48's eighth album Thumbnail.

FEBRUARY

21 - It was announced Morning Musume '17 would air a one-off show on TV Tokyo called Tokugi☆Saikenshou Momusu DE Gozaru! on March 8. The program showed off and verified each members' special skill listed on their official profile.

MARCH

8 - Morning Musume '17 released their 63rd single "BRAND NEW MORNING / Jealousy Jealousy". The A-sides do not include Sato Masaki who was still recovering from her injury during the production period.

25 - It was announced that Morning Musume '17 and ANGERME would be featured in the web service game titled Hello! Project Hina Fest "Idol Nama Gassen" ~Kunitori Tenka Touitsu Hen~, for which a "live battle" event was held on April 16.

Hong Kong's Concert promo Poster

14th Generation Member, Morito Chisaki

APRIL

10 - Morning Musume '17 was appointed the official Ouen Taishi, or Cheer Ambassadors, of the "Ceka Paka PLAY DREAM CAMPAIGN" for the Nihon Seimei Ce-Pa Koryusen (the Nippon Professional Baseball inter-league) that would begin on May 30. Fukumura Mizuki was the leader of the whole campaign while the other 12 members each supported one of the 12 teams and had their own dance movie that was shown at their team's home stadium.

2 -Pharaoh no Haka (ファラオの墓; Pharaoh's Tomb) is an Engeki Joshibu musical starring Morning Musume'17 and select members of Hello Pro Kenshuusei. It is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by Takemiya Keiko which was originally published from 1974 to 1976. The musical ran from June 2 to June 11, 2017 at Ikebukuro Sunshine Theater in Tokyo.

26 - It was announced through a special episode of Hello! Project Station that Morito Chisaki has joined the group as a new 14th generation member and concurrent member from Country Girls. She will begin activities with the group in the Hello! Project 2017 SUMMER concert tour and in their upcoming fall tour.

28 - Morning Musume '17 performed in the TV Tokyo Ongakusai 2017.

JULY

1 - Morning Musume '17 performed in Nippon TV's THE MUSIC DAY Negai ga Kanau Natsu. As part of their collaboration with Marukome, Morning Musume '17 began airing a weekly 5-minute radio program titled "Marukome Morning Misoshiru Koeru yo!" across 38 stations.

15 - Morning Musume '17 appeared with new member Morito Chisaki on TBS's Ongaku no Hi 2017 in two pre-recorded performances.

Morning Musume '17 during the 20th Birthday Event with 6gen guests

SEPTEMBER

14 - The group hold their 20th Birthday event at Shin-Kiba STUDIO COAST, named "Morning Musume. 20th Anniversary Event ~21-nen-me mo Ganbatte Ikimasshoi!~" in front of 2,000 fans. The event also had two surprise guests, 6th generation members Tanaka Reina and Michishige Sayumi, who also participated and sang two songs.

18 - The group present themselves at Music Station's "Ultra Fes 2017".

8 - The National Handshake event starts going through all the Japanese Prefectures

18 - After almost three years, the group announces their new album, ⑮ Thank you, too to be released on December 6th. It is the first album to feature 12th, 13th and 14th generations.

NOVEMBER

3 - The digital single "Ai no Tane (20th Anniversary Ver.)" will be released exactly 20 years after the original demo single was released. The remake is sung by the original five members and Morning Musume '17 as a special anniversary unit named Morning Musume 20th. Morning Musume '17 will open a limited time café at AREA-Q in Harajuku named "20 Nenme no Morning Coffee ~Morning Musume 20th ANNIVERSARY CAFE~" from this day until December 10th. It is part of their 20th anniversary celebration.

14 - Morning Musume '18 attends a press conference to announce a collaboration between au and Hello! Project titled "Oto no VR", which will deliver 360° video and audio content for smartphones, starting with a video of Morning Musume '18 singing "I WISH". Later that day, Morning Musume '18 performed in the second part of the SKY PerfecTV! Ongakusai 2018 alongside Tsubaki Factory.